Sneak Preview: 2010 Inside Sales Compensation Study

Next month, Phone Works will publish the 2010 compensation report on sales development (lead generation) and inside sales (quota-carrying) reps as well as managers. Survey respondents will receive the report first. It should be no surprise that in most companies,  inside sales – selling and qualifying leads by phone and Internet – is a rapidly growing function, given market factors such as increasing customer preferences for online education and communications, increasing cost of sales, and greater focus on sales productivity. If you company is starting up or expanding inside sales or evaluating your sales model, you’ll be interested in the survey results.

Here’s a preview of our findings:

Sales Development

• average target compensation increased 8% for reps compared to last year
• average target compensation increased 5% for managers
• 80% of reps receive some form of incentive pay on closed sales
• average growth as measured by the number of reps on teams compared to last year is 47%

Inside Sales

• average target compensation is virtually the same for reps compared to last year
• average target compensation increased 20% for first-line managers
• average target compensation increased 5% for senior managers
• average target compensation for hybrid (inside/field) reps is 17% higher than inside-only reps
• average growth as measured by the number of reps on teams compared to last year is 30%

Top Three Priorities for Improving Performance:

1. Training
2. New technology, tools
3. Process improvement

Top Challenges for 2011:

1. Improve sales effectiveness
2. New customer acquisition
3. Increase sales productivity

How do the metrics, priorities and challenges reported compare to your team’s? What other metrics are you interested in?

To receive a copy of the full compensation report, which includes base salary and target compensation figures, when released, sign up for the Phone Works mailing list if you aren’t receiving it already. By signing up, you will also receive monthly digests from this blog and news of upcoming industry events. You may unsubscribe, no questions asked, at any time.